In today's commercial aircraft, cabin fixture elements that form an interior cabin such as, for example, luggage compartments, paneling sections or other interior structural elements are directly mounted on the primary aircraft structure such as, for example, frames, stringers or other supporting elements of the aircraft fuselage. The primary aircraft structure is continuously subjected to deformations due to various structural stresses caused, for example, by the pressurization of the aircraft interior that leads to swelling of the fuselage at high altitudes, thermal stresses that may be the result of expansions caused by a temperature difference of up to 100° C. or stresses that are related to flight mechanics, particularly during the takeoff and landing phase, and lead, for example, to a distortion of the aircraft in its longitudinal axis. This deformation of the primary aircraft structure inevitably leads to a change in the position of the cabin fixture elements relative to one another. In order to ensure that the individual cabin fixture elements do not damage one another during this constant deformation of the primary aircraft structure, sufficiently wide gaps are provided between the individual cabin fixture elements and these gaps need to be elaborately sealed for aesthetic reasons, as well as noise and temperature reasons.
DE 10 2006 048 376.6, the applicant of which is also the applicant of the present application, describes how cabin structure segments such as, for example, ceiling elements or lateral (i.e. side) sections that may be fitted with cabin fixture elements such as luggage compartments can be prefabricated in the form of a cabin structure unit. In order to form a passenger cabin, several cabin structure units are arranged behind one another and interconnected. The cabin structure unit is realized in a self-supporting fashion and has a shape similar to that of half a barrel without bottom. The side walls of such a self-supporting cabin structure unit are anchored to the aircraft floor structure.
It was now determined that the cabin structure units may move relative to one another and relative to the primary aircraft structure, for example, due to stresses resulting from flight maneuvers, and that the own weight, as well as the possible load in the luggage compartments, leads to bulging of the cabin structure segments of the cabin structure unit, namely of the two side walls.